The prior art has evolved a variety of devices for retrieving golf balls from water hazards. Typically, such devices comprise an elongated handle with a rake-like head. The head is manipulated under the water with the aid of the handle as the user attempts to draw golf balls which have been lost in the water hazard out of the water. A particular difficulty encountered in using such devices is that the operator is usually not able to see the golf ball which is to be retrieved because the golf ball is immersed in murky water, and/or embedded in silt, and/or obscured by underwater vegetation, etc. It is thus important that the operator be able to detect the presence of a golf ball by tactile sensation when the golf ball retriever makes contact with an underwater golf ball. It is also important that the device, when manipulated by an operator who is unable to see the golf ball, be capable of quickly and accurately entrapping the golf ball so that it may be drawn out of the water. Although a number of prior art golf ball retrievers are likely capable of producing the desired tactile sensation upon contact with an underwater golf ball (i.e. a distinctive feel with is transmitted from the golf ball retriever head along the handle to the operator's hands) the inventor does not consider the prior art devices to be capable of effectively guiding and entrapping the golf ball so as to maximize the likelihood that it may be retrieved from the water. The inventor believes that the prior art devices have been designed with insufficient regard to the ballistics of an underwater golf ball, which differ significantly from those of a golf ball in air.